THC News December 2016 - Page 11

'No amount of accusations of fake news will undermine the credibility of alternative media'

The credibility of the mainstream media has taken a serious hit in 2016 along with that of the establishment politicians.

The same trend is visible in New Zealand. None of the mainstream media in New Zealand reported on the New Zealand government's $13 million donation to the Clinton Foundation's flagship initiative, apart from the pay-walled National Business Review.

However, when the Cannabis Party reported on its website that millions of New Zealand taxpayers dollars were being channelled to the Clinton Foundation, it received 38,000 website hits 17,000 facebook reach and 132 shares.

New media on the internet and social media is not going away and in some cases will become more widely read than the mainstream media narrative. No amount of accusations of fake news will undermine the credibility of alternative media. If anything, it is the mainstream media that has been proven to present propaganda and fake-news.

While the establishment political parties have traditionally received a lot more media coverage. Trump and Brexit prove that the underdog movements and the alternative media are becoming more and more of a political force.

The victory for Donald Trump in the US presidential election as well as the successful Brexit referendum, have highlighted just how wrong the mainstream political media can be.

On the morning of Brexit the media repeatedly said that exit polls were showing the remain vote was winning. There was only one problem, exit polls are banned in the UK. The media was attempting to put off leave votes by convincing them they were already on the losing side.

The media repeatedly claimed that Donald Trump would never be able to win the Republican primary contest. When he did win the primary, They repeatedly claimed that he had no chance of winning the presidency.

The media refused to show how large the crowds were at Trump's rallies and were equally unwilling to show how small the crowds were at Clinton's rallies.

At every event, Trump challenged the media to show the crowd size.

When they refused he simply called the media “the most dishonest people”.

The mainstream media was not used to being so heavily criticised by a political candidate. In return, they did everything in their power to undermine Trump but their attacks were like water off a duck's back.

It was clear to anyone following alternative media online that much of the mainstream media's narrative about Trump was fake.

Since the US election a disturbing trend has emerged. The mainstream media are attempting to flip the narrative about fake news. Instead of admitting they were wrong, they are labeling alternative online news sources as fake, and portraying themselves as the only trustworthy sources of information.

A long list of websites has been released which the media claims are fake news. Even though many of the websites are reputable and correctly predicted Trump's victory.

The credibility of the mainstream media has taken a serious hit in 2016 along with that of the establishment politicians.

The same trend is visible in New Zealand. None of the mainstream media in New Zealand reported on the New Zealand government's $13 million donation to the Clinton Foundation's flagship initiative, apart from the pay-walled National Business Review.

However, when the Cannabis Party reported on its website that millions of New Zealand taxpayers dollars were being channelled to the Clinton Foundation, it received 38,000 website hits 17,000 facebook reach and 132 shares.

New media on the internet and social media is not going away and in some cases will become more widely read that the mainstream media narrative. No amount of accusations of fake news will undermine the credibility of alternative media. If anything, it is the mainstream media that has been proven to present propaganda and fake-news.

While the establishment political parties have traditionally received a lot more media coverage. Trump and Brexit prove that the underdog movements and the alternative media are becoming more and more of a political force.